UK discretionary retail sales suffered their weakest September in seven years, excluding the pandemic, as pressure on household finances weighed on spending ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period.

Like-for-like sales across discretionary categories fell 0.3 per cent compared with September 2025, when they increased 3.1 per cent, according to accountancy and advisory firm BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker.

Online sales performed particularly poorly, declining 1.1 per cent year on year. BDO said this represented the weakest September for online sales since its comparable records began, excluding the pandemic period.

The figures suggest retailers received little of the traditional September boost from back-to-school purchases and consumers refreshing their wardrobes for autumn.

The weakness contrasts with the most recent official data, which showed UK retail sales volumes rising 0.5 per cent between July and August and 2.4 per cent compared with a year earlier. Sales volumes increased 0.9 per cent over the three months to August compared with the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The datasets are not directly comparable: BDO tracks like-for-like sales at participating discretionary retailers, while the ONS measures retail sales across the broader sector.

Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said September’s performance left businesses entering the final quarter in a vulnerable position.

“These results are deeply concerning and come at the worst possible time for retailers,” she said. “September should act as a springboard into the crucial final months of the year, but instead we’re seeing consumers rein in discretionary spending.”

Retailers are also confronting higher employment, energy and supply-chain costs while awaiting Chancellor John Healey’s first Autumn Budget.

Separate evidence from the Confederation of British Industry has pointed to deteriorating conditions. Its September Distributive Trades Survey recorded a balance of minus 62 per cent for orders placed with suppliers, the weakest reading since the survey began in 1983.

BDO warned that retailers could respond to uncertainty over Christmas demand by limiting stock purchases, hiring and investment.

Michael said there was a limit to how much of the increase in operating costs retailers could absorb before passing them on through higher prices.

“The retail sector is entering the most important trading period of the year from an exceptionally fragile position,” she said.

BDO called on the Chancellor to use the Budget to reduce the cost burden facing the sector, particularly as retailers assess the potential impact of further changes to business rates.